Fire detection systems operate under any of a number of different operating modes. In one simple mode, a fire detection system may include a fire control panel hard wired to one or more fire detection devices (e.g., smoke sensors) and/or pull stations. In this case, the fire detection devices and/or pull stations may operate as simple contact closure devices that signal a fire by closing a contact. In this case, the control panel may detect the contact closure and sound a local alarm or transmit an alarm signal to a central monitoring station.
Other, more sophisticated fire detection systems may rely upon a set of radio frequency (rf) transceivers within both the control panel and each of the fire detection devices and/or pull stations. The transceivers within the fire detection devices and/or pull stations may be battery powered.
In a fire detection system that relies upon rf transceivers, the control panel and fire detection devices may each be assigned their own unique system address. During use and in the event of a fire, the fire detection devices and/or pull stations may transmit one or more messages directed to the system address of the control panel. The messages may include the system address of the originating fire detector or pull station and indication of the type of event (e.g., detection of a fire, manual activation of a pull station, etc.).
While such systems work relatively well, they are dependent upon the number of detectors/pull stations within the system. In large systems the delay in the transmission/reception of alarm messages may become excessive causing additional damage from excessive delays. Accordingly, a need exists for better methods of setting up and reducing the delays in such systems.